


Sweet as Cherry Wine

by ink_stained



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I Wrote This While Listening to Hozier's Music, M/M, Unhealthy Relationships, no beta we die like men, overuse of the word sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:34:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23698570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ink_stained/pseuds/ink_stained
Summary: Elias had never been a sweet person, but he was always sweet around Jon.
Relationships: Elias Bouchard/Jonathan Sims, Elias Bouchard/Peter Lukas
Comments: 2
Kudos: 40





	Sweet as Cherry Wine

**Author's Note:**

> This started when I listened to Cherry Wine by Hozier.   
> I knew that I had to write something sad, but then it got away from me and now I'm not sure what it is anymore.   
> It's a different writing style than I normally use, I think, and there's no actual dialogue. But enjoy!  
> \--  
> The relationship between Elias and Jon in this is not toxic per se but it's not healthy either. You could probably see it as some form of abuse or neglect, but otherwise it's mostly just unhealthy but covered to look sweet.

It had always been so sweet. 

Jon could still remember those first nights when he and Elias would just stay up late and talk about everything and nothing, trading sugary sweet kisses and letting fingertips roam over naked skin in random patterns. It was so easy then, effortless. 

Elias was a very charismatic man, beautiful too in that aloof way. He knew exactly how to control a room, and did it more than gladly. Back then, before everything, Jon had just been a lowly archival assistant, no one of any note, and Elias had been the head of the institute, untouchable and shining like the sun. So the fact that Elias one day came by Jon’s desk and asked him out for lunch was not something that anyone could have expected. 

Jon had accepted, of course he had, you don’t turn down Elias Bouchard. And soon they went out to lunch together more often than not. It was simple and sweet, even though Jon had been a bit nervous in the beginning. Elias was charming and after a while, Jon started to relax around him. He found himself laughing at Elias’s dry humour and shooting back just as dry comments. It was.. effortless. 

Lunch dates turned into dinner dates at some point, at restaurants Jon had never even considered going to before. Elias always wanted to show Jon something new and exciting and Jon got swept up in the moment and let him. 

Being with Elias was exiting. He lived a life Jon could only dream of, in the spotlight and with endless possibilities. 

Jon started to join Elias at different fundraisers and galas. It was all so new and overwhelming, but Elias never stumbled, he never faltered. He knew exactly what he was doing and would always come to Jon’s rescue if anything got too overwhelming. Jon felt safe with Elias, well taken care of. 

Then Elias asked him to move in with him. They had been dating for a few months now, and Jon would consider them to be serious but it still came as a surprise. Jon had never had anything like this before. His past partners were few and far between, most of them had left him after just a couple of months, claiming that he was too much work and that he didn’t give back anything. He had never understood what they meant by that. But here was Elias, calm and collected, always on top of everything, Elias, asking him to move in with him, to take things to the next step. Jon was not the most emotional of people but when he said yes he did so with a soft and happy smile across his face. 

Elias flat was just like him, cool and smart, organised but still having a slightly soft and homey feeling. Jon felt like it would destroy Elias’s most likely carefully constructed home to move in his stuff and so he put most of his things in storage for the time being. Elias, sweet as he was, assured him that it was absolutely no problem if he wanted to move in some of his furniture in the flat, but Jon insisted that it was fine. He did bring in some potted plants and his multicoloured coffee mugs, but the rest stayed in storage for now. 

Life with Elias was nothing like Jon had ever known before. It was sweet and exciting, cosy and new, it was domesticated in the best way. Jon wasn’t used to waking up with someone beside him most mornings, so to know that Elias would be there when he woke up was a blessing. They would lie next to each other and speak softly about everything until they fell asleep and when Jon woke up the next day, Elias would lie there next to him and look at him with such adoration in his eyes. Elias would then place a soft kiss on Jon’s forehead before getting up to make coffee and breakfast. 

It was all so perfect that Jon could almost not believe that it was real. 

Of course, nothing can last forever. 

Elias started to come home later than usual. He was a busy man, Jon knew that, and he understood that Elias sometimes had to stay longer at the office. It was fine. It was just one of those periods, it would pass. Jon sent Elias of in the morning with a sweet kiss and decided to wait it out. 

And it did pass. After a couple of weeks, Elias started to come home at his normal time again. He never complained about work, never elaborated about what he was working on, and Jon didn’t ask. He was just happy when Elias did come home. Happy when things went back to normal, to the sweet and easy life they had made with each other. 

It was small things in the beginning. Elias would stay out some nights, just sending a text telling Jon that he wouldn’t be home that night. Or he would be in a bad mood for some reason he would not talk about and snap at Jon over something small. He would always apologise at the end of the day, kiss him with such softness that Jon could do nothing but smile into the kiss and assure him that it was fine, and it was. Jon loved Elias very much and knew how hard it must be to be on the top all the time. 

Elias took to ignoring Jon at work, not deliberately, not noticeable, but they didn’t directly interact during work hours anymore. Jon didn’t think anything of it, it wasn’t as if they had that much contact before either way, they were in different departments after all. Elias was probably just busy, it was nothing to worry about. He was still affectionate and sweet at home, asking Jon about his day and placing sweet kisses on soft skin when he could. There was nothing to think about, nothing amiss. 

Elias was stressed, very stressed. He had started snapping at Jon more and more, for small things. It wasn’t anything he talked about but Jon could see it in the way he frowned and the way he bunched up his shoulders. Jon tried his best to be helpful, but most of the time it just lead to Elias being more stressed. He always apologised at the end of the day if he had snapped at Jon for anything, when they lay in bed next to each other, his fingers trailing softly over Jon’s exposed shoulder in intricate patterns. He placed soft kisses on Jon’s face mixed with apologies, and Jon couldn’t do anything but say that he was forgiven, of course he was. Jon loved Elias, nothing was going to change that. Jon could see how stressed Elias was, it was fine, soon things would go back to normal and Elias wouldn’t have to apologise anymore. They would go back to their sweet and easy life. 

Things did go back to normal eventually, or what passed as normal now. Jon wasn’t sure if this had been the normal before but it was fine. Elias was sweet and the stress was gone. All was well. 

It didn’t last, or it did. Nothing was changing so there was nothing to not last, everything was fine. Elias just had a lot to do, a lot to think about. Jon had not been accompanying him to any events for a while, he wasn’t sure if that was because there hadn’t been any or if Elias had just been too busy to go. But Elias was going tonight. 

He stood in their bedroom getting dressed. Jon walked in and asked when he would be back, he didn’t need to ask where he was going. The Lukas’s family fundraiser had been in the calendar in the kitchen for months, they hadn’t talked about it so Jon had not thought about going, this was Elias’s thing now. 

Elias gave a noncommittal shrug. He didn’t know. Jon understood. He helped Elias tie his tie and leaned up to brush his lips against Elias’s, it was soft, fleeting. 

He fell asleep alone that night, and when he woke up there was no one in bed next to him. It wasn’t until later, when he had already made coffee and eaten breakfast that Elias came back, in the same clothes as last night. He didn’t say anything and Jon didn’t either, just offered him a cup of coffee. 

It went on like this for a while. Nothing was really amiss, nothing was wrong. it was all still sweet and soft, it was still lovely and domestic. Jon still loved Elias, and Elias still loved Jon. This would eventually pass, or maybe it wouldn’t because there was nothing wrong, relationships just change over time, it was normal. 

Elias had to go on a business trip for a couple of weeks. That was not unusual. He had mentioned it in passing to Jon some time before, but he didn’t elaborate on why. Jon knew how much Elias had to do and didn’t question it, it wasn’t out of place. It wouldn’t feel the same a home without Elias for a while but he would manage, who was he to stop Elias from doing his job either way. 

And so Elias left, a chaste kiss on Jon’s lips and a murmured goodbye before he was out the door and walking down the stairs. Jon was left with a sweet taste on his lips and a fleeting feeling in his chest, something he ushed down until he couldn’t feel it anymore. 

The days passed slowly. Elias was so busy that he didn’t have time to call home to Jon most of the days, but when he did they would talk for hours, just like they use to do when the both of them lay in the same bed during late nights. It worked. 

Jon missed Elias of course, but he would be home soon and who was Jon to hinder him in his job. He would be home soon, it would be fine. 

And then he was home once again, and Jon was happy. The sweetness was back and all was well. 

Elias had always been sweet around Jon. Jon knew that that was not true for others, he knew that Elias could be ruthless and cruel. Had heard the stories from others about how cruel Elias could be to his employers who made a mistake. It made him feel special, to be the one that Elias always was sweet around. Elias would make others cry, but not Jon, never Jon. 

***

Elias had never been a sweet person. He was cruel, he was vicious and he always came out on top no matter what. But he was sweet to Jon, in his own way. 

Jon’s whole being demanded a sweetness out of Elias, something he wasn’t used to but wasn’t opposed to. Something about Jon just made it simple to be sweet to him, to lay off his hard exterior. 

Being with Jon made Elias content for the first time in a long time. Jon was so curious and lovely, and Elias took great pleasure in showing him a new side of the world. And Jon drank it all up and demanded more. 

It was easy then for Elias to keep going, to ask Jon to move in with him. Jon had been so adorably excited about the fact, and it made something in Elias warm up and glow. 

Domestic life with Jon was not how Elias had imagined it. It made him sweeter, it was all so sweet. While it wasn’t what Elias was used to he found himself enjoying the new situation very much. 

But the sweetness started to tear at him from the inside. Elias had always been a cruel man, that didn’t change with the new sweetness pulled out by Jon. And so Elias had to keep his distance, he couldn’t afford to let who he was get obscured by who Jon made him be, couldn’t let the sweetness take over. 

Elias started to separate work and Jon, in an attempt to separate who he was, who he needed to be, and the sweetness that came out around Jon. It was hard, but he did it. The sweetness was now reserved for Jon, for when they were alone in their home. 

The reintroduction of Peter Lukas was not meant to happen. Elias had to go to the Lukas family fundraiser and had chosen not to bring Jon, he could not afford the sweetness around the Lukas’s. 

Peter and Elias had a past, a past that Elias was very aware of and wanted no part in anymore. But while Jon brought out the sweetness in Elias, Peter brought out the vicious. And in the end, there was only so much sweetness Elias could take. 

Peter offered him a balance to the sweetness and, corrupted as he was, Elias took it. 

When the sweetness from Jon would overwhelm him, then Peter would show up to balance it all out. He stole away Elias under the guise of a business trip and stripped him of the sweetness until Elias craved it again. Then he would call Jon and be filled, just to have it stripped away again. 

It helped and when Elias returned home to Jon he was more in control of the sweetness that refused to rest. 

Elias was not a sweet man, had never been. Until Jon. Until Jon came and filled him up. One day he might spillover, and lose who he was, but for now, he craved the sweetness and there was nothing he could do about it. 

Jon was worth drowning for.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, here we are. I don't really know what to say, but if you liked it then please leave a comment or kudos.


End file.
